1851 CE

News of the discovery of gold at Clunes, Victoria is published in the Geelong Advertiser. The first protected submarine telegraph cable is laid, across the English Channel. In what amounts to a coup d'etat, President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte of France dissolves the French National Assembly, and declares a new constitution to extend his term. A year later he declares himself as Emperor Napoleon III, ending the Second Republic.

In the 1850s, the 19th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • 13 January — Charles Augustus FitzRoy was commissioned as "Governor-General of all Her Majesty's Australian possessions". This position was a forerunner of the Governor-General of Australia.Australiasource
  • January 23 – The flip of a coin, subsequently named the Portland Penny, determines whether a new city in the Oregon Territory will be named after Boston, Massachusetts, or Portland, Maine, with Portland winning.source
  • March 1 – Victor Hugo uses the phrase United States of Europe, in a speech to the French National Assembly.source
  • May 1 – governors Justo José de Urquiza of Entre Rios and Benjamin Virasoro of Corrientes rise up against RosasArgentinasource
  • 8 May – Convention with The Netherlands abolishing tolls on the Meuse signed in Brussels.Belgiumsource
  • July 1 – Port Phillip District separates from New South Wales to become the Colony of Victoria (Australia).source
  • 25 July – The Treaty of Kuldja (Ghulja) is signed with Qing China, opening Kuldja (Ghulja) and Chuguchak (Tacheng) to Russian trade and permitting Russian consuls there. The seventeen-article treaty was signed for Russia by Yegor Kovalevsky and for China by Yishan and Buyantai.Russiasource
  • August 1 – Virginia closes its Reform Constitutional Convention, deciding that all white men have the right to vote.source
  • 1 November: First national census held in New Zealand, counting European dwellings and population only.New Zealandsource
  • 2 November – legislative election.Portugalsource
  • December 2 – In what amounts to a coup d'etat, President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte of France dissolves the French National Assembly, and declares a new constitution to extend his term. A year later he declares himself as Emperor Napoleon III, ending the Second Republic.source
  • Chilean presidential election, 1851Chilesource
  • Swiss Federal Council first considers official representation in the PhilippinesSwitzerlandsource

Conflict & Security

  • January 11 – Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion in China, one of the bloodiest revolts that would lead to 20 million deaths.source
  • April 20-December 31 - 1851 Chilean Revolution (also known as Revolution of 1851)Chilesource
  • 1 May – coup causing the end of Costa Cabral's tenure and of the Septembrist government. Start of the Regeneration period.Portugalsource
  • July 1 – Battle of Ras Tanoura, a collision occurs between the Bahrain blockading force off Kateef and the Arab fugitives at Kenn Island, who surprised and attacked the Bahrain fleet. Mubarak bin Abdulla bin Ahmed, along with his brother Rashid and Busher bin Rahma Al Jalahma were all killed in the battle.source
  • August 18 – Rosas declares war on Empire of BrazilArgentinasource
  • October 17 – The first Parsi-Muslim riot begins in Bombay, India.source
  • November 21 – Mutineers take control of the Chilean penal colony of Punta Arenas in the Strait of Magellan.source
  • November 26–27 – Morocco: French naval forces bombard the Moroccan city of Salé, in retaliation for looting of a French cargo ship.source
  • 11 December – Victor Hugo's exile in Belgium begins.Belgiumsource
  • December 26–27 – A British Royal Navy warship bombards Lagos Island; Oba Kosoko is wounded, and flees to Epe.source
  • December 31 – 1851 Chilean Revolution: At the Battle of Loncomilla, Chilean rebels are defeated, ending the revolution.source
  • Nian Rebellion in China, 1851–68.source
  • Naga raids on the East India Company, 1851–65.source
  • the Nian begins raiding the grain stores and silver caches of villages.Chinasource
  • Naga raided the East India Company from 1851 to 1865Indiasource
  • Caucasian War: over the winter of 1851–1852 Russian forces tighten their control around Greater Chechnya. In November 1851 the Avar leader Hadji Murad defects from Imam Shamil to the Russians.Russiasource
  • Xhosas clash with the white settlers on the Cape Colonys eastern boundary starting the 8th Cape Frontier War and ends in 1853 in South AfricaSouth Africasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • 28 February – Formation of an Anti-Transportation League from anti-transportation organisations in Victoria and Tasmania.Australiasource
  • March 27 – The first European men reportedly see Yosemite Valley.source
  • April 9 – San Luis, the oldest permanent settlement in the state of Colorado, is founded by settlers from Taos, New Mexico.source
  • May-October – Embroiderer Joseph Van Halle exhibits "Church ornaments and Brussels lace" at the Great Exhibition in London. The Belgian ambassador, Sylvain Van de Weyer, was consulted to ensure that the display of ecclesiastical vestments was arranged in such a way as not to offend Protestant sensibilities.Belgiumsource
  • August 3 – The filibustering Lopez Expedition sails from New Orleans, Louisiana heading to seize Spanish-ruled Cuba.source
  • August 22 – The yacht America wins the first America's Cup race, off the coast of England.source
  • August 22 – The yacht America of the New York Yacht Club wins the first America's Cup race, off the coast of England.United Statessource
  • September 30 – HSwMS Eugenie leaves from Karlskrona, Sweden to begin its voyage as the first Swedish Royal Navy vessel to circumnavigate the world.source
  • 30 September – HSwMS Eugenie leaves from Karlskrona, Sweden to begin its voyage as the first Swedish Royal Navy vessel to circumnavigate the world.Swedensource
  • November 13 – The Denny Party lands at Alki Point, the first settlers of what later becomes Seattle.source
  • William Kennedy was commander of the second sponsored expedition to find Sir John Franklin.Canadasource
  • Wilhelm Marstrand's painting of Church-Goers Arriving by Boat at the Parish Church of Leksand on Siljan Lake is part of the exhibition.Denmarksource
  • Norwegians starts to settle at the mouth of the Jakobselva river, and the area develops into the village of Grense Jakobselv.Norwaysource
  • Hebrides shipping services of Burns Brothers pass to David and Alexander Hutcheson and David MacBrayne as David Hutcheson & Co.Scotlandsource

Religion & Belief

  • 11 January: The Otago Witness begins publication. It publishes fortnightly until August, and then weekly until its demise in 1932.New Zealandsource
  • 9 March – Robert Eden is consecrated as first Bishop of Moray and Ross in the Scottish Episcopal Church, an office he will hold until his death in 1886.Scotlandsource
  • 6 April – Henry Edward Manning is received into the Roman Catholic Church.United Kingdomsource
  • April 20 – Ramón Castilla loses power in Peru.source
  • The first Mormons in Iceland, Thorarinn Thorason (or Hafliðason) and Guðmundur Guðmundsson were baptized in 1851 under the direction of Erastus Snow.Icelandsource
  • Dadabhai Naoroji foundesthe Rahnumae Mazdayasne Sabha (Guides on the Mazdayasne Path) on 1 AugustIndiasource
  • Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hyderabad established as Apostolic Vicariate of Hyderabad from the Apostolic Vicariate of MadrasIndiasource
  • John Blackwell (Alun) – Ceinion Alun (posthumously published)Walessource
  • Thomas Jones (Gogrynwr) – Gweddi Habacuc (cantata)Walessource

Economy & Finance

  • 18 April – New law on bankruptcy.Belgiumsource
  • June 2 – Castle & Cooke, the predecessor of Dole Food Company, is founded in Hawaii.source
  • 2 July – the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce elects their first chairman, William Westgarth, and deputy chairman, J.B.Were.Australiasource
  • the first huiguan, the Kong Chow Company emerged seeing that the majority of Chinese already settled in California were connected to six districts collectively called GangzhouChinasource
  • Hagen & Sievertsen is founded in Odense.Denmarksource
  • Oriental Bank Corporation chartered to allow competition with the East India Company's opium billing monopolyIndiasource
  • The ninth revision (poll-tax census, revizskaya skazka), begun in 1850, is carried out across the empire in 1850–1851.Russiasource
  • James Valentine (photographer) establishes the printing business of Valentine & Sons in Dundee.Scotlandsource
  • Patek Philippe & Co. is foundedSwitzerlandsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • 15 February (O.S. 3 February) – Nicholas I issues a decree authorising surveys for the construction of the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway.Russiasource
  • April 8 – Western Union is founded, as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company.source
  • 24 April – Convention with the Netherlands allowing steamships on the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal signed in The Hague.Belgiumsource
  • May 1 – The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London is opened by Queen Victoria.source
  • May 6 – John Gorrie of Apalachicola, Florida is granted Patent No. 8080 for a machine to make ice.United Statessource
  • 14 July – Sir William Denison, Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania writes to Earl Grey supporting a continuation of transportation.Australiasource
  • August 12 – Isaac Singer is granted a United States patent for his improved sewing machine.source
  • November 1 – Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway officially opens in Russia.source
  • November 13 – The first protected submarine telegraph cable is laid, across the English Channel.source
  • December 22 – The first railway begins operation in India, hauling canal construction material in Roorkee.source
  • 24 December: The Governor Wynyard, the first steamer built in New Zealand, is launched at Freemans Bay, Auckland.New Zealandsource
  • The first experimental electric telegraph line, between Calcutta and Diamond Harbour, is opened for the British East India CompanyIndiasource
  • Sugar is first produced from cane in NatalSouth Africasource
  • The Eidgenössischer Stutzer 1851, the first service rifle used by the Swiss armed forces to be procured by the federal government, goes into serviceSwitzerlandsource

Science & Discovery

  • February 12 – Edward Hargraves claims to have found gold in Australia.source
  • 12 February — Edward Hargraves finds evidence of gold near Bathurst, but no announcement is made at that time.Australiasource
  • 2 May— Edward Hargraves proclaims the discovery of gold at Ophir, New South Wales. The gold was actually discovered by William Tom and John Lister, between 7 and 12 April 1851.Australiasource
  • July 28 – Total solar eclipse visible in Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Northern Europe, the first solar eclipse to be photographed.source
  • July 29 – Annibale de Gasparis, in Naples, Italy discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.source
  • October 24 – Ariel and Umbriel, moons of Uranus, are discovered by William Lassell.source
  • 24 October – Ariel and Umbriel, moons of Uranus, are discovered by William Lassell.United Kingdomsource
  • Surviving 1851 Census Returns of IrelandIrelandsource
  • Publication of Daniel Wilson's The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, which introduces the word prehistoric into the English archaeological vocabulary.Scotlandsource
  • All Swiss weights and measures are unifiedSwitzerlandsource

Health & Medicine

  • April 25 – Placer County, California, is formed from parts of Sutter and Yuba Counties with Auburn as the county seat.source
  • June 2 – Maine passes the Maine Liquor Law, the first state-wide prohibition in the United States.source
  • 4 August – The Governor of Western Australia complains of receiving too many convicts as 300 ticket-of-leave men arrive unexpectedly.Australiasource
  • 7 August – Poor Relief (Ireland) Act provides for the establishment of dispensaries.Irelandsource
  • 31 October – The New South Wales Legislative Council votes unanimously against transportation 'in any form what-so-ever, to any part of Her Majesty's Australian possessions'.Australiasource
  • Donaldson's Hospital opens in Edinburgh, primarily for the education of deaf children.Scotlandsource
  • 30/31 March – United Kingdom census: Scotland's population is recorded as 2.89 million; about 7% are of Irish birth.Scotlandsource
  • The hospital Ersta diakoni is built in Stockholm by Maria Cederschiöld (deaconess) as the leader of the first deaconesses in Sweden. There Cederschiöld establishes the first formal nursing programme in Sweden.Swedensource
  • The last major outbreak of dysentery begins, going on to kill 26,000 people.Swedensource
  • Florence Nightingale's father allows her to return to the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserswerth in Germany for 3 months of nurse training.United Kingdomsource

Crime & Justice

  • February 15 – In Boston, Massachusetts, members of the anti-slavery Boston Vigilance Committee rescue fugitive slave Shadrach Minkins from a courtroom, following his arrest by U.S. marshals.source
  • July 1 – Serial poisoner Hélène Jégado is arrested in Rennes, France. Her trial opens on December 6; she is eventually sentenced to death and executed by guillotine.source
  • 6 December - Trial of Hélène Jégado begins; she is eventually sentenced to death and executed by guillotine.Francesource
  • Charles-Philogène Tschaggeny, The Gathering of the HarvestBelgiumsource
  • Hendrick Joseph Dillens, The Winning ArcherBelgiumsource
  • Court of Chancery Act 1851 (British statute)Indiasource
  • Hattemakerfeiden, labour revolts in Ringerike.Norwaysource
  • Aron Samson and Erik W. Wallin found the bookshop Nordiska Bokhandeln as Samson & Wallins bokhandel. It goes on to be the largest in Stockholm.Swedensource
  • House sparrows first released in the U.S., in Brooklyn.United Statessource
  • Richard Williams Morgan – A Tragedy of Powys CastleWalessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • February 1 – Brandtaucher, the oldest surviving submersible craft, sinks during acceptance trials in the German port of Kiel, but the designer, Wilhelm Bauer, and the two crew escape successfully.source
  • February 6 – Black Thursday occurs in Australia as bushfires sweep across the state of Victoria, burning about a quarter of its area.source
  • 6 February – The Black Thursday bushfires rage from Mount Gambier to Melbourne. Fires covered a quarter of what is now the state of Victoria, approximately 50,000 km 2 . Areas affected include Portland, the Plenty Ranges to the north of Melbourne, Westernport, the Wimmera and Dandenong districts. Approximately 12 people died, one million sheep and thousands of cattle were lost.Australiasource
  • 15 March – Explosion at Victoria Pit colliery, Nitshill kills 61 men and boys.Scotlandsource
  • 28 May – The arrival of two convict ships, the Lady Kenneway with 249 male prisoners and Blackfriars with 260 female prisoners, further turns Tasmanian sentiment against transportation.Australiasource
  • December 24 – The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., burns.source

Climate & Environment

  • March 30 – A United Kingdom Census is taken. The population has reached 21 million. 6.3 million live in cities of 20,000 or more in England and Wales, and cities of 20,000 or more account for 35% of the total English population. It also shows that a legacy of the Great Irish Famine is that the population of Ireland has fallen to 6,575,000 – a drop of 1,600,000 in ten years, many having emigrated.source
  • 30 March – the United Kingdom Census shows that, as part of the legacy of the Great Famine, the population of Ireland has fallen to 6,575,000 – a drop of 1,600,000 in ten years. This is the first census to note use of the Irish language.Irelandsource
  • 30 March – The United Kingdom Census 1851 is the first to include detailed ages, date and place of birth, occupations and marital status of those listed. The population of the UK is revealed to have reached 21 million. 6.3 million live in cities of 20,000 or more in England and Wales and such cities account for 35% of the total English population. Uniquely, this census also counts attendance at places of religious worship: it shows that only 35% of the population attend and, of those, nonconformists are in a majority. As part of the legacy of the Great Irish Famine, the population of Ireland has fallen to 6,575,000, a drop of 1.6 million in ten years.United Kingdomsource
  • May–August – The Great Flood of 1851 causes extensive damage in the Midwest; the town of Des Moines is virtually destroyed.United Statessource
  • Mid-May to mid-July – Great Flood of 1851: Extensive flooding sweeps across the Midwestern United States. The town of Des Moines is virtually washed away, and many rainfall records hold for 160 years.source
  • 1851–1855 Yellow River floods in China.source
  • Great Famine (Ireland), 1845–52.source

Culture & Society

  • 10 January – The Norwegian Booksellers Association (Den Norske Bokhandlerforening) is founded.Norwaysource
  • 11 January: The Lyttelton Times begins publication. It will change its name to the Christchurch Times in 1929, and continue until 1935.New Zealandsource
  • January 15 – Christian Female College, modern-day Columbia College, receives its charter from the Missouri General Assembly.source
  • January 28 – Northwestern University is founded in Illinois.source
  • 23 February – Willemsfonds established.Belgiumsource
  • March 11 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto is first performed at La Fenice in Venice.source
  • April 28 – Santa Clara College is chartered in Santa Clara, California.source
  • May 15 – Mongkut is crowned as King (Rama IV) of Siam, at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.source
  • May 15 – Alpha Delta Pi sorority, the first secret society for women, is founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia (U.S.)source
  • May 15 – The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the discovery had been made three months earlier.source
  • June 21 – The Immortal Game, a famous chess match, is played between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky, during a break in the first international tournament, held in London.source
  • 7 July – News of the discovery of gold at Clunes, Victoria is published in the Geelong Advertiser.Australiasource
  • July 10 – The University of the Pacific is chartered as California Wesleyan College, in Santa Clara, California.source
  • July – The bloomer costume appears in Montreal.Canadasource
  • September 15 – Saint Joseph's University is founded in Philadelphia.source
  • September 15 – Saint Joseph's University is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.United Statessource
  • September 18 – The New York Times is founded in New York City.source
  • October 15 – The city of Winona, Minnesota is founded.source
  • October – The Reuters news service is founded in Londonsource
  • November 14 – Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick; or The Whale is published in the U.S. by Harper & Brothers, New York, after being first published on October 18 in London, by Richard Bentley, in three volumes as The Whale.source
  • December 9 – The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal.source
  • December 29 – The first YMCA in the United States opens in Boston, Massachusetts.source
  • Murree established in the PunjabIndiasource
  • Alexander Ostrovsky's play The Poor Bride, his second major play, is written; it was published in the journal Moskvityanin in 1852 and first staged at the Maly Theatre in 1853.Russiasource

Births

  • January 11 – Soeria Atmadja, Sundanese noble and politician, Regent of Sumedang (1881 - 1919) (died 1921)source
  • January 19 – David Starr Jordan, American ichthyologist, educator, eugenicist, and peace activist (died 1931)source
  • March 19 – Roque Sáenz Peña, President 1910–1914 (died 1914)Argentinasource
  • May 20 – Emile Berliner, German-born American telephone and recording pioneer (died 1929)source
  • June 12 – Sir Oliver Lodge, British physicist (died 1940)source
  • July 5 – Haji-Mirza Hassan Roshdieh, Iranian cleric and educator.Iransource
  • July 8 – Arthur Evans, British archaeologist (died 1941)source
  • 28 July – Manuel Raimundo QuerinoBrazilsource
  • August 3 – Nikolai Iudovich Ivanov, Russian general (died 1919)source
  • August 14 – Doc Holliday, American gambler, gunfighter (died 1887)source
  • September 13 – Walter Reed, American army physician, bacteriologist (died 1902)source
  • September 16 – Evgeny Aleksandrovich Radkevich, Russian general (died 1930)source
  • September 29 – Hardwicke Rawnsley, English clergyman, poet, writer of hymns and conservationist (died 1920)source
  • October 2 – Ferdinand Foch, French commander of Allied forces in World War I (died 1929)source
  • October 6 – Wilhelm Oechsli, historian (died 1919)Switzerlandsource
  • November 27 – Friedrich Sixt von Armin, German general (died 1936)source
  • December 10 – Melvil Dewey, American librarian, inventor of Dewey Decimal Classification (died 1931)source
  • December 24 – Noël Édouard, vicomte de Curières de Castelnau, French general (died 1944)source

Deaths

  • January 27 – John James Audubon, French-American naturalist, illustrator (born 1785)source
  • February 1 – Mary Shelley, English author (born 1797)source
  • February 23 – Joanna Baillie, Scottish poet, dramatist (born 1762)source
  • March 9 – Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish scientist (born 1777)source
  • April 15 – Andrés Quintana Roo, Mexican politician and lawyer, husband of Leona Vicario (born 1787)source
  • April 23 – Anne Darwin, daughter of Charles Darwin dies, sending him into a great depression.source
  • July 10 – Louis Daguerre, French artist, chemist (born 1787)source
  • September 1 – Narciso López is executed in Havana following the failure of his expedition in Cuba.source
  • September 14 – James Fenimore Cooper, American writer (born 1789)source
  • October 4 – Manuel Godoy, Spanish statesman (born 1767)source
  • 18 October − Brynjólfur Pétursson, lawyerIcelandsource
  • October 19 – Madame Royale Marie Thérèse of France (born 1778)source
  • October 31 – Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, Montenegrin statesman, religious leader and poet (born 1813)source
  • November 26 – Jean-de-Dieu Soult, French marshal, politician (born 1769)source
  • 9 December - Ramón Freire (born 1851)Chilesource
  • December 19 – J. M. W. Turner, English painter (born 1775)source
  • Chui A-poo (?-1851), hangs himself before the British are able to exile him to Van Diemens LandChinasource
  • Abraham Constantin, enamel painter (born 1785)Switzerlandsource